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To the Ray Twinney Centre for the Open House on the Region’s Transportation Master Plan. There are about 15-20 members of the public there along with Newmarket’s Regional Councillor, John Taylor.

We are probably matched one-to-one by York Region staff who are out in great numbers. You can see the presentation from the Region’s Director of Infrastructure Management, the knowledgeable Stephen Collins, here.

It seems to me the Transportation Master Plan is in danger of being overtaken by events in a very big way. Its timetable is clearly out of synch with Metrolinx whose detailed Regional Express Rail strategy, complete with all its nuts and bolts, is to be unveiled early next year.

Despite an assurance from Metrolinx to members of York Regional Council in September that Regional staff would be closely involved in discussions on new stations and infrastructure, staff are clearly out of the loop.

Metrolinx playing its own game

With disarming candour, Stephen Collins tells me Metrolinx has not shared its thoughts on future infrastructure, new stations, grade separations and so on. York Region is waiting to be told what is going to happen – just like the rest of us. Metrolinx is playing its cards close to its chest.

Collins gives straight answers to straight questions, a trait typical of engineers but scarce amongst politicians. So when I ask him if York Region was consulted on the decision by Metrolinx to terminate the all-day two-way 15 minute GO Train service at Aurora, he says no in a matter of fact way.

Why end the gold-plated GO Rail service at Aurora?

What else did I learn? Regional Councillor John Taylor tells us the Transportation Minister, Steven Del Duca, had made it clear to him and to Newmarket Mayor, Tony Van Bynen, at their meeting earlier this month that the decision to terminate the 15 minute all-day two-way service at Aurora is final and will not be re-opened. But the Minister must have explained the reasoning behind that decision. It is just not being shared with the rest of us.

I also hear it confirmed that the Town is not buying the land at Mulock Drive which is identified as a possible site for a new rail Station. Personally, I think that is a big mistake. It is currently up for sale.

The proposed new station at Mulock Drive will remain in the Transportation Master Plan even if Metrolinx decides not to proceed with it at the moment. And although Mulock Drive is very close to the Aurora GO Station – only a matter of minutes by train – it is further than the minimum two kilometer distance which is required between stations.

I learn that grade separation at Mulock Drive is even more pressing than the traffic-choked Davis Drive because of the sheer volume of traffic.

Given the huge amount of preparation that goes into these Open Houses and the huge army of staff present, the Region needs to do some lateral thinking about how best to get more people engaged. Without getting more members of the public along, these events end up as a tick box exercise rather than a vigorous exchange of ideas between the professionals and the rest of us.

The Region is inviting comments on its Transportation Master Plan by 10 January 2016. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Darryl Wolk is making a career out of baiting Tony Van Bynen about the Mayor’s salary.

In a furious broadside of tweets today he tells his readers that Van Bynen “refuses to justify his outrageous salary” which is “greedy and corrupt”. He says the Mayor, Council and staff are lining their own pockets and the CAO, Bob Shelton, should perhaps be replaced on the grounds that there are “no financial controls at all. Expense fraud common. Mayor salary top secret.”

All this is completely and wildly over the top.

I like Darryl Wolk. Even though his politics are all over the place he adds to the gaiety of the nation. He is in perpetual campaign mode and refuses to go away. I like that. It keeps people on their toes. But by spraying around allegations of corruption and by endlessly repeating the so-called “fact” that Tony Van Bynen is the fourth highest paid Mayor in Canada is to undermine his more general case against the current incumbents at Mulock Drive – that he considers they are totally useless.

The Mayor’s salary and benefits are now posted on the Town’s website. I approve. Until earlier this year, we never got the whole story and it was only after I had written to the Council’s Chief Administrative Officer, Bob Shelton, pointing out that the Municipal Act required the publication of the Mayor’s remuneration from Newmarket Hydro, that Van Bynen’s total package was revealed.

Wolk’s poison darts aimed at the Mayor miss their mark when it is perfectly clear Van Bynen is not even the highest paid Mayor in York Region. Van Bynen gets more than enough to keep the wolf from the door but it is not a King’s ransom. In fact, there are police constables in York Region bringing in over $160,000 a year.  Wolk needs to keep a sense of proportion and some perspective. (If the Sunshine List's $100,000 threshold had been uprated for inflation it would be at $145,000 by now.)

Van Bynen is an intelligent man

The Mayor has some significant strengths. He appears avuncular, projecting a persona which suggests the Town is safe in his hands. He is good at chairing meetings – in the sense of keeping order and getting through the business. Van Bynen is an intelligent man so when he chooses to say nothing about some boiling controversy, or makes himself scarce, this is done out of calculation not inadvertence.

The Mayor believes openness and transparency are the enemies of good public administration instead of being a prerequisite. When changes are made - such as the new remuneration page on the Town’s website - he probably agrees reluctantly. The initiative most certainly did not come from him.

But instead of getting worked up into a lather about Van Bynen’s ranking in the salary league table of Canada’s Mayors we should concentrate laser-like on the way he runs the Town.

There are enough examples to fill a book but I select here one or two of the most egregious. Van Bynen did not give any explanation to the Glenway Lessons learned meeting about the extent of his prior knowledge of the boycott of the OMB Glenway Hearing by the Town’s top planning staff. The Town spent $500,000 going to the OMB when Van Bynen already knew it was doomed to fail and a quiet, leafy neighbourhood would be transformed beyond all recognition.

Van Bynen also has a track record of knowingly withholding relevant information from the OMB when Newmarket matters are before it and up for decision.

It will be a moment to savour if Van Bynen ever summons up the courage to campaign for his third term priority - the reform of the OMB.

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Like most fair-minded people, I find John Taylor genial and approachable even though he likes to hoard information, trading it with others when it suits his purpose.

So Taylor deserves a pat on the back for reporting back to Council earlier this week (14 December 2015) on his recent meeting with the Minister of Transportation, Steven Del Duca, on how Regional Express Rail would impact Newmarket.

What he didn’t say was as significant as what he did say. It is now perfectly obvious that the Town has thrown in the towel on a 15 minute Newmarket to Toronto service. In his report-back Taylor did not mention this once (see below). More astonishingly, there were no questions whatsoever from his incurious councillor colleagues on the details of one of the Province’s biggest civil engineering projects in decades.

No Grade Separation

Let’s be clear. A 15 minute service would automatically mean grade separation at Mulock Drive and Davis Drive. There would be chaos in Davis Drive were this not so. Taylor assured us we would know the outcome of grade separation studies “over the next year”. I can tell him now. Grade separation isn’t going to happen.

After Taylor concludes his report-back, a million questions cry out to be asked but all I hear is silence.

Is the Town continuing to press for a 15 minute service and if not, why not?

Has the Town taken any steps to acquire land at Mulock Drive for the GO Rail Station it says it wants to see there? If not, why not?

(When Metrolinx Chief Planning Officer, Leslie Woo gave her presentation to York Region's Committee of the Whole on 10 September 2015 she told Taylor new GO stations are not funded beyond those already planned – Gormley and Bloomington in York Region – and that there are no provisions for safeguarding land that might be needed for a new station. She said Metrolinx will recommend the new stations for consideration in Spring 2016.)

Taylor talks about the proposed new station at Mulock having sufficient parking to take the pressure off the Tannery (which he says is “stressed”) and Aurora. How big would the footprint of this station be? Would it affect in any way the proposed adjacent development of townhouses on protected meadowland at Silken Laumann Drive which he voted for and which was conditionally approved by the OMB in September 2015?

Transportation Master Plan Open House

Fortunately, some of these questions can be posed to York region planners who are holding an open house at the Ray Twinney Centre tomorrow night (17 December) from 6pm – 9pm to discuss the updating of the Region’s 2009 Transportation Master Plan which is rapidly being overtaken by events.

The old Transportation Master Plan talks about partnering with “GO Transit, Metrolinx and local municipalities to assess the feasibility of new park-and-ride stations along several existing rail lines”.  It wants to develop further promotion of walking, cycling and transit connections to and from GO Rail Stations (page 141). It also points to the advantages of purchasing properties around stations “to assist in the development and value capture opportunities” citing the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority as an example (page 146).

So there’s lots to talk about – new stations, grade separations, the impact of the proposed new developments along Green Lane.

What plans are there to co-locate the Town’s GO Bus and GO rail stations?

What is happening to the GO Rail Station Mobility Hub Study at the Tannery? (The Town’s recently adopted Secondary Plan proposes limited park-and-ride.)

Leslie Woo tells us Metrolinx is working very closely with York Region staff on a range of issues thrown up by the RER program – including the new station program - so tomorrow’s open house could be very informative.

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What Tayor said

In his Regional Report to Newmarket Council on 14 October 2015, John Taylor said:

"Last week, the Mayor (Tony Van Bynen) and myself, Mayor Dawe (of Aurora) and the Member of the Provincial Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora, Chris Ballard, met with Steven Del Duca, the Minister of Transportation (with) regards to Regional Express Rail, the all-day GO train service that is being slowly rolled out throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

"This is not the first time that we’ve had an opportunity to raise questions. They’ve been in front of Council, in front of the Regional Council. Both the Mayor and myself have attended the quarter Committee meetings with elected representatives along the corridors and in all of these instances we have raised concerns or areas of concern. Obviously we begin by expressing support for RER and the all-day GO in general and we know a lot of our residents will benefit from that enhanced service but we still regardless have to raise those areas of concern and one of those is parking.

"We know the Tannery is extremely stressed and so we raised that. Also at-grade crossings and how that causes train whistles and we’ve been having numerous discussions about that. There are studies that are being undertaken by Metrolinx to examine both issues - parking and at-grade crossings. Those studies over the next year will be released and will show the various issues and levels of need at different areas and where they will be addressing them or where they will not be addressing them.

"The other area that they are going to be coming out with next year is a study into the need for new stations. There are several areas within the GTA that are being looked at for potential new stations and, as a Council, we have sent our own motion forward and we have highlighted this at the Region and in the various meetings. In fact, we’ve been highlighting this as a Town going back decades. And it has been recognized by GO themselves – prior to being Metrolinx - that there is the potential for a new station at Mulock and the train tracks which, of course, is very close to where we are sitting right now.

"There was a primary purpose to this meeting. We had a very good discussion with the Minister. There is a study that’s going on into various locations for new stations. They’ve reduced the study down to 50 locations and we are on that shortlist, if you can call it a shortlist.

"We highlighted again the advantage of not necessarily needing an expansion of parking in Aurora and Newmarket at the Tannery if a new station (at Mulock) were implemented with parking there so there would be costs saved in other locations were this moved forward.

"So it was a good discussion. Obviously the Minister can’t pre-judge the outcome of the study but, you know, we are just making sure there is a great level of awareness on this.  We put forward the strongest case we possibly can (at) every opportunity we possibly can and I think that was accomplished. And we really thank Mayor Dawe and MPP Ballard for participating in that discussion.

(This is at 1hr 14 mins on video)

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Aurora councillor, Tom Mrakas, has been in touch to say that his motion on the reform of the OMB is to be debated by the council on 19 January 2016. I incorrectly stated the motion was down for debate on 8 December 2015.

Why can’t a councillor here in Newmarket take a similar initiative? I hope Ward 7 councillor Christina Bisanz steps forward. She has doggedly stuck with the Glenway lessons learned agenda when so many of her Council colleagues want to forget about it and move on.

Earlier this year, Municipal Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin said a full review of the OMB was coming up in the “near future”. Whatever that means we know that reform is on the agenda.

In her mandate letter of 25 September 2014, Premier Kathleen Wynne, told McMeekin:

“Your ministry’s specific priorities include… leading a review of the scope and effectiveness of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). Working with the Attorney General and key stakeholders, you will recommend possible reforms that would improve the OMB’s role within the broader land use planning system.”

Before the municipal election last year, Tony Van Bynen, promised Newmarket voters:

“Bringing reform to the Ontario Municipal Board and the Planning Act to ensure our residents have a say in shaping their community will be a priority in the next term. Our Council’s decision to fight for Glenway and defend our Town’s official plan was the right thing to do. I will be working with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and a number of mayors to meet with the Province to bring about real change to the municipal planning process.”

Newmarket should team up with Aurora and other like-minded Municipalities and get the ball rolling.

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Bill Fisch, the former unelected Chair of York Region, has been appointed to the Board of Metrolinx as a part-time director.

He will serve a three year stint until 29 September 2018 and will be at the centre of things as key decisions are made about Regional Express Rail and the Barrie corridor which slices through his former bailiwick.

As a Board member, Fisch will have to make do with a modest $200 per diem.

This is hair shirt territory for Fisch who received an eye watering $224,275 in remuneration in his last year at the helm of York Region.  He also received pension, health and other benefits of $39,150 and claimed expenses totalling $6,828.

Fisch was famously “hands-off” during the York Region transit strike which dragged on for months in 2011.

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